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Rihanna honoured with Humanitarian Award at Harvard

Yesterday, Rihanna took a trip to Harvard to accept the university's 2017 Humanitarian Award.

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Looking delighted to be there to accept the accolade, the singer rocked a super chic off-the-shoulder grey ensemble featuring a cool dress and matching knee-high boots.

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Allen Counter, director of the Harvard Foundation, presented Rihanna with the award for her work with the Clara and Lionel Foundation Scholarship scheme, which helps young children pursue their education in the Caribbean, and for her collaboration with Global Partnership for Education and the Global Citizen Project.

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Addressing the audience at Harvard, Rihanna said: "You don’t have to be rich to be a humanitarian. You don’t have to be rich to help somebody. You don’t gotta be famous. You don’t even have to be college-educated. I mean, I wish I was... especially today... It’s true, I might come back."

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She continued: "When I was 5 or 6 years old, I remember watching TV and I would see these commercials and I was watching other children suffer in other parts of the world... I would say to myself, ‘When I grow up and get rich, I’m going to save kids all over the world.’ I just didn’t know I’d be in the position to do that when I was a teenager."

Watch Rihanna's speech at 1 hour, 14 minutes in the below video:

Browse Rihanna's coolest style moments...

Believe it or not, Rihanna was only 17 when this snap was taken. Signed up to Def Jam recordings by Jay-Z in 2004, it was only a year later that she released chart-busting album Music Of The Sun and burst onto the international fame stage - funky, urban style in tow.

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In the pre-Umbrella days, it was a wholesome, Island-girl image RiRi was working. White jeans, hoop earrings and a tube top were her choice for 2005’s MTV Awards.

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She’s an intrepid fashion force now, but back in 2005 Rihanna was playing it safe in neutral make-up, simple ponytails and oh-so over, boho-inspired dresses.

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2006 saw GLAMOUR.com girl crush Rihanna release album Girl Like Me and single SOS, which really catapulted her into the big time. A new album meant a new look: she began championing a more sophisticated, polished image.

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Lucky RiRi turned hot pink from fashion faux pas to fashion fabulous, thanks to a killer bod and gorgeous complexion, later that year.

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For the MTV VMAs in 2006, we can't help but feel that Rihanna was a little too princess-perfect in this diamanté-encrusted prom dress and heavily coiffed waves.

Look out world, there’s a major Rihanna image overhaul on the horizon! Our girl gave us a glimpse of the grown-up glamour puss to come in this subtly sexy white mini dress and siren red lips in December 2006.

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Boom! Starting with a headline-grabbing new bob, Rihanna kicked off 2007 with a bang in Roberto Cavalli at the Grammys...

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...and another album. We couldn’t listen to the radio for more than ten minutes without hearing the ubiquitous Umbrella – and this raven-black, side-parted crop became every hairdresser’s most requested chop that year. (That Gucci dress, we could only dream about.)

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Sexier, edgier and more directional... As her latest record declared, this good girl had officially gone bad. Working with famed fashion stylist Mariel Haenn, Rihanna started carving out a brand new image for herself in 2007.

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But in the early days, there were a few hiccups. This punky prom queen look that she wore to a New York party left the style critics shouting, ‘don’t try so hard!’ at the fledgling fashionista. Madonna-tastic!

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The blips were few and far between, though: Rihanna was back on fashion form at a Cartier party in June 2007, donning a divine Dolce & Gabbana dress with her newly befringed ‘do.

...Then it was back to hot pink for another MTV red carpet appearance – this time, floor-length and accessorised with bags of attitude.

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This Armani Privé dress wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea (and we can see why!), but the chainmail corset only proved to us that RiRi was every bit as daring as we’d hoped.

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One word: gorgeous. This checked Max Azria shawl proved Rihanna could do dressed-down chic just as well as red carpet glamour. And it wasn’t just us who noticed. RiRi was swiftly becoming a darling of the fashion world in 2008, popping up front row at plenty of the New York shows.

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One of our fave things about Rihanna? She can rock ‘young and fun’ just as well as sophisticated style. This bubblegum pop combination of H&M corset and Stella McCartney jeans was her choice for the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice awards in 2008.

As 2008 rolled around, it was becoming apparent that the less hair Rihanna had, the more style she seemed to acquire. Check out the über-cool bustier dress she matched with her new short buzz-cut for the 2008 MTV VMAs.

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Rihanna style version 3.0 might have been more at home in studded booties and mini dresses, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t still pull a show-stopping gown out of the bag. This lilac Gucci beauty showcased her grown-up side.

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Leading the jumpsuit trend in typically cool style, Rihanna got the look spot-on in this tailored piece, accessorised with Christian Louboutin heels and a statement necklace, for 2008’s Jingle Bell Ball.

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Gucci girl Rihanna plumped for another of the fashion house’s divine maxi dresses for her appearance on the red carpet at the 2009 Grammys. This time it was a loud, printed number that caught her eye (and ours).

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No stranger to couture controversy, in 2009 Rihanna shunned the dresses that the rest of the A-list was wearing and opted for this puff-shouldered Dolce & Gabbana tux for one of the fashion world’s biggest annual events: the MET Ball. The fashion police were divided – what did you make of it?

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Making this ‘we-never-thought-it-would-work’ Louis Vuitton outfit look awesome at a gala in 2009.

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Bringing Chanel bang up to date, Rihanna posed for paps at the house's spring/summer 2010 show in its famous tweed and stacks and stacks of necklaces.

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Scooping Woman of the Year at our US sister GLAMOUR Women of the Year Awards in 2009 – and the best dressed gong from us for this dramatic Stephane Rolland dress.

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Is there anyone else in Celebsville who could have pulled this jaw-dropping Marchesa dress off quite as well? We think not.

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Putting the shocking domestic violence case with Chris Brown seemingly behind her (her then-boyfriend assaulted her in February of 2009), Rihanna embarked on a massive world tour in 2010. Still all smiles, she wore a cute’n’quirky Viktor and Rolf dress to an LA party in January.

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Oh, how we loved this look! Straight from the Christian Dior catwalk, this belted dress worn with dainty ankle socks was pure outfit perfection at the Kids Choice Awards 2010.

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Back with another album, Loud, and yet another image tweak, Rihanna debuted her vibrant red hair with these colour clashing separates in London in October 2010. Cue a massive boost in home hair dye sales!

Rihanna was frothy and fabulous at the 2010 MTV Europe Music Awards in this multi-layered Marchesa gown.

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Proving why she’s the queen of colour, RiRi then matched her scarlet hair with a vibrant turquoise knit from Alexander Wang and matching leggings for a TV show appearance in New York.

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Rihanna saw in New Year 2011 in old style, working a naughty-but-nice Louise Goldin dress – sheer panels and all! – for a NYE party in Las Vegas.

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It seems that, like most girls, Rihanna does find a style she likes and sticks to it – albeit on a shorter cycle than most of us! It was dramatic sheer panels again for the star in this Jean Paul Gaultier gown at the 2011 Grammys.

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RiRi tried on ‘ladies who lunch’ for style when she wore this demure, scalloped hem shift to a Grammys brunch a few days later, but her wild corkscrew curls betrayed her inner rebel...

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...But she was at the zenith of her drama queen powers come the 2011 BRIT Awards, when she blew away the red carpet competition in neon Dior. Swoon!

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The crop was back – in both hairstyle and wardrobe! – when we spotted Rihanna indulging in some retail therapy in Sydney in March 2011.

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Just a couple of months later it was a case of good girl gone, well, good, when Rihanna launched her fragrance Reb’l Fleur in this ultra-feminine polka dot cocktail dress.

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Off duty, it was mannish separates that were Ri’s bag for spring 2011.

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But the Met Ball, as ever, called for something really special and Rihanna pulled out a look and a half in asymmetric Stella McCartney lace balanced with an on-trend Rapunzel plait.

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Those mermaid-esque locks were still taking centre stage when we spotted our girl looking fresh-faced and innocent in head-to-toe cream silks the morning after. How does she do it?!

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A blunter cut and casually-knotted jersey separates for a spot of shopping followed a few weeks later.

It wasn’t long, however, before RiRi was up to her naughty old tricks. She wore this crop-top and high-cut knickers combo to perform on The Today Show a few weeks later.

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Trying out the trends: RiRi took her utterly covetable Prada platforms for a spin around New York in July 2011. (When it was so hot that people couldn’t bear to wear trousers. Or something.)

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Flashback alert! When Rihanna hit the UK in August 2011 to launch Reb’l Fleur, she wore a turquoise Antonio Berardi two-piece that was striking similar to that Alexander Wang outfit of yore. The newly brunette ‘do and big, bouncy curls mark a new era.

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Just when we thought RiRi couldn’t possibly get any more famous (or fabulous), the release of We Found Love, featuring Calvin Harris, in October 2011 made it so. It also made an iconic fashion moment of this bleached denim crop top and skirt.

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Proving that she hadn’t forgotten her Island roots, Rihanna looked just as comfortable in her bikini and jersey tube dress as she does in couture when we snapped her taking a break in Hawaii in January 2012.

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Rude gal! Rihanna claimed about a zillion column inches in February 2012 when she accessoried her ripped jeans and barely-there body with a strong red lip, Chanel hat – and ex-flame Chris Brown.

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In an attempt to calm the furore surrounding her private life, perhaps, Rihanna kept things sleek and chic courtesy of Giorgio Armani at the 2012 Grammys.

Boom chicka wah wah! So successful was Ri’s Grammys outing that she turned to Signor Armani for her next public appearance, too: attending the now-infamous Stella McCartney dinner at London Fashion Week in February 2012.

To promote her new film Battleship in London, Rihanna opted for a slick-yet-sporty Alexander Wang dress with Louboutin heels and a flawless blonde blow-dry.

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While a lesser mortal may have chosen to wear Stella McCartney’s print tuxedo jacket as just that, a jacket, Rihanna pushed the envelope once more to create this quirky-yet-assured look as she attended yet more London appointments in spring 2012.